Nearly every year, yoga instructor Linda Antignani surveys the students at her studio and asks them their New Year's resolutions. Usually, Antignani, who owns Mother's Embrace Yoga Studio in Shelton, hears pledges to lose weight, quit smoking and make other changes.

But this year, she didn't hear anything. Not a single student offered up a resolution for the New Year. "It was like it fell on deaf ears," said Antignani, a Stratford resident.

Finally, one woman told Antignani that it was hard to think about giving anything up because many people have lost so much in the past year. With people losing jobs or their homes or having their salaries and/or hours reduced, they might not have the energy to give up a vice or bad habit. "I understood where she was coming from," Antignani said.

In such challenging times, people might not only be loathe to give anything up, she said, they might also find the entire concept of a resolution depressing. "Most people already feel terrible about themselves these days," Antignani said. "And making a resolution means that they're doing something wrong that has to be fixed."

As reasonable as the logic was, it also struck Antignani as a sad way to kick off the year ahead. Instead, she encouraged her students to look at the new year as a fresh start, and use it as an opportunity to change their attitudes, if not their habits. "How about saying `I resolve to be more positive in the new year?' " she suggested.

Other experts in the region recommended a similarly upbeat, and manageable, approach to new year's resolutions. Making traditional resolutions -- quitting smoking, losing 10 pounds, being more organized -- can sometimes do more harm than good, said Raeleen Mautner, life coach and a full-time lecturer with the University of New Haven's department of psychology. "Often, they don't work and it makes us feel bad about ourselves," said Mautner, also host of "The Art of Living Well," a weekly show on UNH's radio station WNHU.

Fitness coach Linda Gottlieb, of Milford, agreed that sometimes people set themselves up for failure with their resolutions. Gottlieb, who owns FIT Training LLC, said losing weight and getting fit usually top people's new year's resolutions list. That's great, she said, but sometimes resolution-makers set unrealistic goals. Resolving to go to the gym every day is all fine and good, Gottlieb said, but with so many other commitments competing for your attention, that change might be difficult to maintain over the long haul.

Instead, she said, "try to do things in a slow way and a manageable way. Commit to doing less than you think you can." Committing to hitting the gym twice a week might not seem like much, Gottlieb said, but it's better than nothing and it's a fairly easy plan to stick with. Most of the time, people break their fitness resolutions within a month, she said. That's less likely to happen if you set relatively modest goals.

Realism is also a cornerstone of Mautner's new year's philosophy. Instead of a big, traditional resolution, she recommends three simple alternative resolutions. The first is to take one small action every day to protect each of these three areas -- your health, your free time and your financial status.

Note the word "small," Mautner said. Like Gottlieb, Mautner believes no good can come from forcing yourself into a rigorous fitness regimen in honor of 2010. Rather, she recommends simple changes, such as taking 10 minutes each day before dinner to dance vigorously around your kitchen for a quick jolt of exercise. Or, instead of a vigorous, time-consuming overhaul of your finances, why not make a series of manageable money-friendly changes? These can be as small as switching to a less-expensive hair salon, or taking a minute to check credit card receipts for errors.

These might not seem like important changes, Mautner said, but these little alterations can accumulate and make a real difference. "When you do one thing, there's sort of a domino effect," she said.

Her next alternative resolution is to toss out your "to-do list" in favor of a "not-to-do list." What tasks do you hate to do? Is it shoveling snow? Designing a Web page for your small business? Pick which activities sap your energy and get rid of them. If it's something you must do (like shoveling), then delegate to other members of your household or try hiring inexpensive help. Local college students can be a valuable resource, Mautner said.

"You need to get to the heart of what's really, really important in your life," Mautner said, and the "not-to-do" list can help you focus on the essentials.

Her last un-resolution is resist the urge to over-plan your life. Allow yourself to let go a little, and stop trying to control every element of your existence, Mautner said. "You can really only unfold the way you were meant to unfold if you stop trying to force your life's direction," she said.